1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the field of agriculture, and more particularly to vegetable and produce harvesting and the field-sleeving of produce in protective plastic sleeves prior to packing.
2. Description of the Background Art
Traditional harvesting techniques for lettuce and other leafy vegetables have relied on cutting and packing the lettuce heads into large boxes in the field. The problem with packing several dozen heads of lettuce into a single box, is that substantial product damage is incurred as the heads contact each other and as the compressed lettuce heads are unpacked at the produce retailer. Large numbers of lettuce leaves are torn away, reducing the overall weight, size and quality of the individual heads. A solution towards reducing product damage has been to sleeve or wrap the individual heads into plastic sleeves as the heads are harvested and before they are packed. This packaging into plastic sleeves has the added benefit of containing leaf moisture and of keeping the product clean during subsequent handling.
The harvesting and packing of lettuce is largely performed by hand. Harvesters cut the lettuce and then hand place the lettuce in rows to be boxed. What is needed is an inexpensive and simple-to-operate sleeving apparatus that can be used by the harvester prior to boxing to allow efficient sleeving of leaf lettuce heads as part of the normal harvesting routine.